The Team Star Breaker Holiday Spectacular
by GhostFairy
Summary: A collection of holiday oneshots that follow Team Star Breaker over the course of the year, taking place before, during, and after the Beyblade World Championships.
1. A Very Merry Team Star Breaker Christmas

**Merry Christmas, everyone! Following my previous Team Star Breaker oneshot, this is a series of holiday stories about them that take place over the course of the year up to next Thanksgiving. I'm going to try to write stories for most holidays, some will be funnier than others, with maybe one or two more serious ones thrown in. Hope you guys enjoy this, and I'll see you all soon with a New Year's update!**

 **I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

Zeo stared up at the massive, heavily decorated twelve-foot tree, still uncertain as to how they'd managed to get it into HD Academy in the first place. On the other hand, the oversized real tree was quite acceptable considering the alternative Jack had initially proposed. Jack had enthusiastically been endorsing a 6-foot light pink and yellow artificial tree with an enormous sequined red bow topper he had come across online that came with a set of rainbow lights. If Zeo had to look at that day after day, he was positive he would've thrown up. Jack's second suggestion hadn't been much better.

Fortunately, Dr. Ziggurat had taken control and orchestrated the majority of the decorations for the holiday season. Jack had been given too much free reign during Thanksgiving, something that came back to bite them all in the end, and thus had to be reigned in slightly. It had taken ages to get all the streamers down.

The thought of Thanksgiving made Zeo grimace. He didn't remember much of the evening, thanks to Damian getting him completely drunk, but it was obvious the event had been nothing more than sheer utter chaos. Dr. Ziggurat immediately steered the conversation in another direction any time the topic came up. He had no desire to discuss the night either.

So, Zeo thought, he was fully justified in his apprehension toward Christmas. There was absolutely no telling what the day would bring.

Still, the thing bothering him most at the moment was not the absurdly large tree that barely fit in the room as it brushed up against the ceiling, nor was it the fact that the holiday was less than a week away. Rather, Zeo's primary stress came from an announcement Dr. Ziggurat had made only days ago.

This year, the three star members of HD Academy would be participating in Secret Santa. At first, Zeo had been filled with excitement at the idea. In the past, he'd done it with friends and it was great, having to surprise one of his best friends with a gift, and then being surprised in turn at who would be giving him a gift. Moments later, reality came harshly crashing down on him. He was no longer at Dungeon Gym, nor was he with his best friends.

Instead, he'd have to purchase something for one of the two loons who ran amok around the academy. That in itself would be a production. Second, he'd be _receiving_ a gift from one of them. Zeo recoiled in horror at the prospect. Anything from either of them was guaranteed to be a nightmare. Jack would undoubtedly come up with the weirdest thing imaginable, and Damian… Quite honestly, Zeo wouldn't be surprised if Damian gave someone a dead rat or something equally as horrifying.

Before he picked a name from the hat Dr. Ziggurat held in front of him, Zeo had hoped he would get Jack. At least he wouldn't be too difficult to shop for. Zeo could pick up some art supplies and call it a day.

But, as luck would have it, fate was against him once more. He'd drawn Damian, and Zeo didn't even know where to begin. What did you get a guy like Damian?

Zeo knew he had to be careful. Chances were, anything that Damian liked would eventually be used against him. Damian reveled in anything that allowed his sadistic side to shine. And Zeo was his favorite target.

Zeo had spent the past few days tossing aside idea after idea out the window. Time was running out, though, and now he had no choice but to buy Damian whatever crossed his mind first as a viable idea.

Zeo hopped into the elevator, on his way out into the city. Being in New York City had its perks. There was no shortage of stores awaiting him outside the doors of HD Academy.

* * *

Christmas Eve came faster than anyone would've expected. Snow sparkled outside the window, creating a light blanket on the city streets. The streetlights gleamed in the wintry darkness.

Zeo sighed as he watched the snowfall. He really wasn't sure what to expect out of his first Christmas at HD Academy. When he'd first joined not even two months ago, it was all to help Toby. Masamune was already long gone. He never thought he would've gotten so wrapped up in all of this. Granted, Zeo had known all along he'd have to push himself incredibly hard, that he had to stand at the top of the heap as one of the academy's best bladers to save Toby, but at the time he didn't have a clue what he was getting himself into.

Jack and Damian were something else. Zeo still didn't understand the role he played in all of this. He pushed the thought behind him. It was time to get into a "festive" mood.

All attempts to restrain Jack's creativity had failed in the past few days. While Dr. Ziggurat's guard was down, Jack had managed to cover the halls in a sea of green and red streamers that dangled from the ceiling in every room. He'd also cut out paper snowflakes from construction paper of varying colors and stuck them literally _everywhere_. Several of them created a path on the floor in each of the hallways. One of them had been taped to the side of a toilet.

Oddly enough, Zeo found the excessive decorations comforting rather than annoying, adding some familiarity to the top floors of the academy that were designed to essentially be a luxury apartment. Sure, they were a bit of a nuisance, but he'd grown used to some of Jack's unusual tastes. At least it wasn't anything designed to harm him personally.

Dr. Ziggurat's Christmas Eve party was about to begin. It was mainly about networking, with him being one of the youngest ones there, but all Zeo cared to do was make a brief appearance then slip back up to his room. Zeo didn't want to meet any of the people funding them and supporting the doctor's research. He didn't know any of them, nor did he care to "mingle" with the adults as he'd been told. The parties were definitely not his scene. Besides, Jack was more than willing to be stand out enough for all of them anyway.

For once, Zeo was slightly envious of Damian. Damian was their secret weapon, and was required to lay low as to not draw too much attention to himself. Zeo also suspected another reason that Damian wasn't to make his presence well known was due to the chaos that usually followed simply by being near him.

Zeo piled up a plate with food from the buffet table. At least the events were always well catered. He definitely wouldn't be starving tonight.

Jack came up to him with a drink, handing it to him as he emerged from the throng of people.

"Zeo!" Jack said excitedly. "Isn't this wonderful? Christmas is just hours away!"

"Yeah, it's great," Zeo muttered, shrugging Jack's arm off his shoulders.

Jack wandered off, cornering some other poor soul, smiling all the while.

"Oh, look, mistletoe!" Jack cried out. Zeo cringed, feeling bad for anyone to find themselves unfortunate enough to be underneath the hanging plant at the same time as Jack. The thought of some poor soul having to kiss Jack was enough to make anyone retch.

Zeo stared at the drink he was now holding. The drink was an innocent pink color. A quick sniff only brought up the aroma of lemonade.

Zeo dumped the drink into a nearby potted plant. After Thanksgiving, he'd never trust another drink anyone gave him again. His cameo appearance made, Zeo slipped away and headed toward his room, plate of food still in his hand.

Snow was still falling when Zeo awoke to the sun shining brightly through his window Christmas morning.

He groaned, stretching as he sat up, preparing to face the day.

It was his first Christmas away from his family and away from his friends, but Zeo was certain he could handle it. After all, holiday or not, it was still another day at the academy and he'd survived every day so far. If he could survive Thanksgiving, Zeo was convinced he could make it through anything. Zeo quickly got dressed and headed for the dining room.

An envelope and small box had been placed outside his door. Zeo brought both of them back into his room.

It was obvious they were a gift from Dr. Ziggurat. Inside was a card and some equipment for bey maintenance. Zeo smiled, glad he'd gotten at least one gift he could appreciate. Leaving the present on his bed, he walked back out and tightly shut the door to his room behind him.

The kitchen was empty, but pancakes, waffles, and an assortment of fresh fruit had been placed on the counter. Zeo barely had time to scarf down a waffle before he heard his name echo from the nearby hall.

Dr. Ziggurat called them all to the tree, requesting they all bring their presents for the Secret Santa gift exchange. Zeo made a quick trip back to his room to grab Damian's gift.

Jack was already sitting on the floor when Zeo arrived, a Santa hat perched atop his pink hair. He wore one of those ugly Christmas sweaters that had become popular, one Zeo suspected he may have made himself. Jack held an oddly shaped present wrapped in no fewer than three different styles of wrapping paper. An enormous sparkling silver bow had been stuck to the top.

Zeo sat down next to him, placing his present next to him. Damian joined them a few moments later with a large box that obscured his face from view.

"Excellent," Dr. Ziggurat clapped his hands together. "Now that we are all here, we can begin. Zeo, why don't you go first?"

"Uh, okay," Zeo shifted uncomfortably. "Damian, this is for you."

Damian snatched the gift and voraciously ripped into it. Zeo had gotten him an assortment of snacks. Truthfully, Zeo had been at a total loss and spent hours wandering the city in search of something that couldn't eventually be used against him. He figured he couldn't go wrong with food when he'd accidentally run into the premade gift basket while in the grocery store.

Damian was eyeing the gift carefully, turning it over and examining the contents.

"All right, Damian, now it's time for you to share your gift," Dr. Ziggurat instructed.

A sinister smile crept across Damian's face. "Zeo, this is for you." He held out his gift with outstretched hands.

Zeo reluctantly took the large present wrapped in tin foil from Damian.

"Wait a minute," Dr. Ziggurat interrupted, a confused look crossing his face. "Damian, if you got Zeo, and Zeo, if you got Damian, who did you get, Jack?"

Jack beamed, cradling the uniquely wrapped gift in his hands. "Isn't it obvious? I pulled my own name from the hat! At first, I wasn't quite certain as to what to get myself, but after some deep soul searching, I had the perfect answer." Jack looked greatly pleased with himself.

Dr. Ziggurat face-palmed. "Jack, the point of Secret Santa is that you give a present to someone _else_ , not yourself. Had we known you had picked your own name, we would have drawn again."

Jack was too busy tearing through the wrapping paper, oohing and ahhing at the bucket filled with rainbow paints he'd unwrapped, declaring that it was the best present he'd ever received to bother responding.

Dr. Ziggurat took a large drink of something in an opaque glass. Meanwhile, Damian prodded Zeo to open his present.

Zeo handled the box with care. For something so large and unwieldy, it was unexpectedly light.

He tore away the tin foil, revealing a cardboard box underneath. Zeo used the box cutter to rip open the folds. Inside the box was a second box, also wrapped in tin foil.

Puzzled, Zeo removed the foil and opened the second box, only to find yet another inside. Zeo continued pulling out box after box until he reached a tiny rectangular one.

Zeo groaned, and opened the seventh box.

Inside was a single pack of orange-flavored gum.

Within seconds Zeo decided he'd be throwing it away the moment he was safe in his room out of Damian's sight. It was too risky to accept something edible from Damian.

"Thanks," Zeo managed to get out.

Damian's grin was disturbingly wide. "I thought you'd like that."

Dr. Ziggurat's mouth was thin. Clearly the Secret Santa idea had not worked out the way he'd intended. Sighing, the doctor left the room, stating he needed to get things ready for Christmas dinner.

Jack had opened up one of the paints and whipped out a pallet and paintbrush from who knew where. He was busy testing out the color on his own skin.

"Such a lovely chartreuse," he murmured.

Zeo stood up, taking his gum with him. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room."

"Nonsense!" Damian jumped up, violently grabbing Zeo's arm and nearly ripping it out of its socket. "Christmas is a family holiday, and we're all a big happy HD Academy family now. We should spend the day together."

Zeo gulped. Damian's smile was far too genuine, and the alarmingly unexpected words that came out of his mouth were spoken with such fervor that Zeo had no plans to stick around for whatever Damian was plotting. He shook his arm free.

"Jack, help me restrain him."

Zeo protested, but suddenly the two boys linked their arms with him and marched him down to Jack's room.

They sat him down in an empty chair. Damian quickly produced rope from out of nowhere and tightly tied Zeo's hands down. Zeo yelped, and struggled against the binds, unable to free himself.

"Now, now," Jack chided. "Zeo, Damian and I have been discussing this, and it has come to our attention that you are simply too unhappy around the holidays. Therefore, we have decided to help inject some holiday spirit into you."

Zeo made a faint keening sound like a dying animal.

Jack took out his paint pallet once more, and got to work. Damian sat on the bed and watched on in amusement.

* * *

Dr. Ziggurat stared at his three charges around the table. All in all, Christmas had gone much more smoothly than he'd expected, especially after the Thanksgiving fiasco. For the majority of the day, he'd barely heard anything out of the boys. Now that they'd appeared in time for dinner, he knew why.

Damian and Jack were busily scooping food onto their plates. There was nothing out of the ordinary there.

Zeo, on the other hand, sat on the other end of the table, a defeated look on his face. More concerning than his broken expression were the red and green streaks painted down his arms, and the Christmas tree painted on his forehead. On his left cheek an ornament was painted, and on his right he had a silver star covered in glitter.

Dr. Ziggurat made a mental note to tell Damian and Jack to treat the newest member of their team with more respect in the upcoming year.


	2. The New Year's Eve Spectacular

**Happy New Year, everyone! Technically, it's still 2018 for about an hour where I am, so this seemed like the perfect time to upload this! I hope you all have a great year coming up. :D**

 **So, I do have a question for my readers now that I've written a couple of these Team Star Breaker stories. Whose perspective do you like following best? I know I tend to stick with Zeo's because it's the easiest to write, but I'm curious. Let me know, and I hope you guys enjoy this! I'll see you with an update on Valentine's Day!**

 **I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

Zeo could have cared less about the New Year's Eve party that was taking place at HD Academy tonight. All of December had been filled with gatherings hosted by Dr. Ziggurat, ones that Zeo had been forced to attend against his will.

Less than a week had passed since Christmas, and Zeo was still feeling pangs of loneliness-and mild aggravation from memories of the day-despite the fact that the holiday had gone better than expected. He missed his best friends and Dungeon gym more than anything, though typically these things didn't bother him so much, with Jack and Damian constantly keeping him on his toes and overwhelmingly distracted. Constantly busy with his training too, Zeo often didn't have time to dwell on what he had left behind. Zeo had yet to make any headway in forming positive relationships with Damian and Jack, assuming it was even possible. He seriously doubted it. Zeo didn't plan on forgiving either of them for tying him down and painting him red and green on Christmas any time soon, or at all. And that was only the start of what they had put him through.

Damian and Zeo were the primary reasons Zeo did not want to go the party tonight. Admittedly, he wouldn't have wanted to go anyway, the high class members of society who always showed up always made him feel out of place, but the other two star members of HD Academy were much more threatening. Not too long ago at Thanksgiving, Zeo had fallen victim to Damian's vicious plan to get him plastered.

The Christmas decorations, minus the tree, had already been removed. Rather, the Christmas tree had been redecorated with shiny gold and silver ornaments to better reflect celebrations for the upcoming new year.

Jack, unrestrained as ever, had spilled an entire container of _glitter_ in every hallway. Dr. Ziggurat had been horrified; it was impossible to fully clean the sparkles. Traces of them remained everywhere. Zeo tracked piles of the stuff into his room every time he returned from his ventures in the apartment-style upper floors of the academy.

The others had grown used to Jack decorated for each holiday. Usually, it merely involved annoying streamers of varying colors dangling from the ceiling, or paintings on the wall in the special paint that Dr. Ziggurat had provided Jack for the very purpose. Once it became clear Jack refused to be stopped, Ziggurat had been forced to accommodate the artist through means that would be most beneficial for everyone.

But the glitter had been terribly unexpected, though no one should have been surprised. Every holiday seemed to come with a new shock of its own. Even Damian had been slightly irritated by the glitter, and he typically reveled in the chaos Jack's decorating caused.

Zeo sighed, staring at the snow still falling down into the city outside his window. Last year, he, Toby, and Masamune had spent the night at Toby's, staying up late to watch the ball drop on tv. The memory lingered uncomfortably as he watched people hastily walk along the streets below rushing to get to their destinations amid the cold weather.

The door to his room suddenly burst open. Zeo cried out as a pink blur barreled into his room. Moments later, Zeo saw Jack beaming up at him from where he laid in a heap on the carpet.

"What the-" Zeo started, only to be cut off.

Jack scrambled to his knees, resting his arms on Zeo's bed. Zeo pulled his legs close to him, squashing himself up against the headboard as far away from Jack as possible.

"Have you heard the news?" Jack stared at Zeo inquisitively with wide eyes.

"No," Zeo said warily, not daring to take his eyes off the pink-haired blader. He really wished his door had a lock on it. Maybe Dr. Ziggurat could be persuaded to install one. "What's up?"

"Oh, it's dreadful!" Jack professed, clutching his head with his left hand. "Truly despicable! Dr. Ziggurat has decided we cannot go to his holiday party tonight, I can't imagine why. How are we supposed to welcome this coming year now?"

Zeo held back a snort. Of course it was something like this. Jack loved the doctor's parties-they gave him a chance to have the spotlight on him. Unfortunately, things tended to get a little out of hand no matter how prepared they were to employ damage control. It didn't come as much of a surprise that their supervisor was hoping to have one party for his sponsors that didn't have crazed teenagers running amok.

"Does it really matter?" Zeo asked, annoyed. He started crawling across his bed on all fours and pushed Jack off the bed. Jack howled indignantly as he fell backward.

Jack stood up. "Fine," he huffed. "Be that way. But for the record, Dr. Ziggurat recommended we not be around _at all_. It sounds like he wants us to spend all night cooped up in our rooms, the very idea!"

"I don't think it's that big of a deal," Zeo responded, bored. In fact, it sounded more ideal than anything.

A smile crossed Jack's downturned face as he turned toward the door. "Don't worry about it, Zeo. I have a plan."

Zeo grimaced. If Damian and Jack crashed the party, Zeo would almost certainly get wrapped up in it. The doctor would be furious, and that anger would rain down on all of them, likely in the form of more intense training.

Brutal blading was not the way Zeo intended to start his year off.

"Jack, what's that in your hand?" Zeo asked, suddenly noticing he'd been holding something.

"Oh, this?" Jack lifted up the bottle, as if he'd just noticed it himself. He waved his free hand dismissively. "It's just champagne. There's about twenty bottles of them in the kitchen right now. Ziggurat won't even notice it's missing."

"What are you planning on doing with it?"

"Well first I'm going to pour the vile substance out of it, then I'm going to decorate the bottle of course. Valentine's Day is coming, and one can simply never be too prepared," Jack paused. "Or maybe I'll give it to Damian so he can empty it. He said something about needing the champagne for some reason."

"Great." Zeo gritted his teeth. "Just great."

* * *

At dinner, Dr. Ziggurat made the announcement that Jack had exploded into Zeo's room to inform him of earlier.

Jack bristled. It was _so_ rude of the doctor to cut them off like that, especially last minute. Even Damian seemed like he wanted to protest the order they make themselves scarce, but he knew it was best to keep his mouth shut. Jack was not going to let Ziggurat get away with this, not in the slightest. Jack had an advantage in that he'd known ahead of time, having spied on the doctor while spreading more glitter in the main hallway. He couldn't believe how committed the others had been to cleaning it up, but that was no matter. Jack could always obtain more glitter.

Jack smiled placidly, rearranging the spaghetti on his plate into the shape of a hippopotamus. If only the doctor knew. Jack had a fantastic plan to make sure he, Damian, and poor Zeo had the best New Year's Eve ever.

First, the three of them would find their way to a Chinese place downtown. Jack had heard it was good luck to eat Chinese on New Year's and this year was to be his most important yet artistically. It was important he had positive energies on his side.

Then, he had an even better plan, one so secret he wasn't fully convinced of it himself just yet. It was to be the ultimate surprise, something neither of them would ever see coming.

Jack could barely contain his excitement. He bounced up and down on the couch, sitting across from the glimmering tree. He was giving Damian and Zeo a chance to sort themselves out before he made his big declaration.

First, he'd break the news to Damian. Damian was always much more easily swayed to go along with his plans than Zeo. For some strange reason, Jack suspected Zeo didn't enjoy hanging out with them too much. He couldn't fathom the reason why. Jack needed to have Damian to back him up, in case the two of them had to drag Zeo out of HD Academy by force. It would not be the first time.

The door to Damian's room was wide open, almost as if Damian had known Jack would be coming.

Jack strutted in. The blue-haired blader was already pulling on a coat, one that looked oddly similar in color and style to the cape he always wore. Once more, Jack cursed himself for not purchasing the fringed purple winter jacket with silver spikes he'd come across the other day. His own black coat seemed far to plain by comparison, even with thirty or so pins and patches he'd artfully tacked on.

"Where are we going this time, Jack?" Damian asked, not looking at him as he continued getting ready. Damian donned a black beanie on his head.

"Chinatown." Jack brightened. "But first, we need Zeo. I hope he won't be so coarse when we go to get him this time."

Damian cackled. "Don't worry. He'll come."

"I hope so. The thought of him cooped up alone on such a joyous day pains me." Jack absently picked at a red-rimmed patch that said "Gamer Girl."

With that, the two of them marched down to the other end of the hall to the room that housed Zeo.

"Oh, Zeoooo!" Jack trilled, pushing the door open without bothering to knock.

Zeo jumped. He'd been standing by the window, headphones jammed in his ears.

"Jack, what do you want now?" Zeo groaned. He tensed, noticing Jack wasn't alone. "Damian. What's going on here?"

"We're going out to celebrate New Year's Eve, of course!" Jack chided him. Zeo could be _so_ dense about these things.

Zeo backed up toward his window, cornering himself. "No way. Nuh uh. I am _not_ going out with you two."

Just then, Dr. Ziggurat popped his head in the door. "Oh, good, it looks like the three of you are going out for the evening. Wonderful! Guests will be arriving soon, so I highly suggest you three get going before things get too hectic here." Zeo looked like he'd been shot.

Jack grinned. How convenient the doctor should show up now of all times! Now Zeo didn't have a choice. Jack ripped open the door to Zeo's closet, tossing clothes out until he found a blue jacket. Jack himself would have never chosen something in such a cerulean shade to wear, but nonetheless he felt it would suit Zeo perfectly.

Damian grabbed Zeo's arms and pinned them to his side. Zeo let out a meek whimper, but made no effort to get away. Jack quickly forced the blader into the jacket, and found a black hat with a green pom-pom for him to wear after some frantic digging. Damian and Jack each taking an arm, they dragged Zeo to the elevator, and out to the streets below.

Damian took a deep breath, taking in the frigid air into his lungs. Snow sprinkled down on top of them as Jack hailed a taxi. Chinatown wasn't terribly far away, but at least the pink-haired dingus had the sense not to make any of them walk in this weather.

When his attempts failed, Jack ran, flailing down toward the next street where he saw several taxis pulled over on the side of the road next to a large, extravagant apartment building with a flow of people constantly moving in and out of it. Zeo hesitated before chasing after him. Damian leisurely brought up the rear, smiling all the while. Zeo slipped on an icy patch, landing flat on his butt. Damian didn't bother trying to hide his laughter.

Jack rushed over to Zeo, giving him a hand to help him up. As Zeo was unsteadily making it to his feet, Jack slipped as well, sending the two of them sliding down the street, falling with a splat.

Damian walked over to the two of them, not bothering to offer his assistance.

"Oh, look," he crowed. "The taxi's here!"

Damian hailed the driver over and crawled into the back seat. A disheveled Zeo climbed in a moment later. Jack stood up, slipped again, and instead slithered on his stomach over to the taxi and into the seat.

The taxi driver looked at them in disbelief before tearing off into the middle of the packed road.

The taxi driver repeatedly slammed the brakes, cursing every few minutes. The three of them lurched forward from their squished state in the back of the car.

"We should have taken the subway," Zeo moaned, looking a little green.

Damian sat back on his perch, enjoying the shrieks and squeals from his companions each time the driver narrowly avoided causing an accident.

When the taxi finally eased into Chinatown, the three of them burst out of the taxi, glad to finally be free.

"It's beautiful!" Jack cried, enjoying the lights all around them. "Follow me!" Jack tore off into the throng of people.

Damian's eyes widened, briefly losing his cool composure for a moment before regaining it with a sneer. Only one time before had he followed Jack like this, and it had not been a good time. Even with his height and obnoxious colored hair, it hadn't been easy to locate Jack in a crowd. Fortunately though, Damian had experience.

Zeo, however, did not. He floundered behind, struggling to avoid bumping into people in the busy streets as he ducked below and skirted around groups to avoid a collison.

Jack finally stopped in front of a Chinese restaurant with a vibrant glowing sign. Zeo caught up a few minutes later, wheezing and gasping for air.

Jack pushed open the door and immediately they were assaulted by toasty warmth and tasty aromas. Jack forced his way to the front of the line.

"A forty minute wait!" He complained as the hostess put his name down on the waiting list.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else!" Zeo suggested.

"No!" Jack shouted, alarming several patrons. "We HAVE to have Chinese tonight. It's the law!"

Damian's expression dimmed. For once, he almost agreed with Zeo. It simply wasn't worth it.

Jack saw their dulled appearances. He whooped enthusiastically. "We have forty minutes! That's plenty of time to explore this part of the city!"

Jack fled the restaurant in a frenzy leaving Damian and Zeo lost in his wake. He ran straight into the store across the street.

They found Jack examining a red Chinese dress. "Such lovely craftsmanship," he murmured.

Damian situated himself behind a large Buddha statue. If nothing else, it gave him an opportunity to scare Zeo the moment he walked past seconds later.

Zeo was interestedly examining a pair of foo dogs when Damian jumped out in front of him. Zeo jumped back, startled, and let out a frightened cry as he nearly bumped into another statue behind him. When he saw Damian was behind it, he scowled.

After over thirty minutes of Damian antagonizing Zeo while Jack dragged them through shop after shop, they finally made it back to the restaurant and were seated shortly after. Dinner went innocently enough, for once, until the check came and they only received two fortune cookies because the restaurant hadn't received their latest shipment and were fast running out of the cookies due to the holiday.

Damian snatched up his, leaving Jack and Zeo to fight over the other one. He watched gleefully as Jack maliciously pried the cookie from Zeo's fingers. Zeo hung his head, defeated, not wanting to get into it further.

"'You will find love and prosperity coming your way soon,'" Jack read happily. "How lovely! Sorry, Zeo, you really missed out this time. Shall we get going?" He stood up, pushing his chair back in.

"You mean this crazy night isn't over?" Zeo asked, despair sliding across his face.

"Ha!" Jack scoffed. "Not even close. The night is still wondrously young!" Jack twirled toward the door.

Damian watched him with interest. He too was curious what Jack had planned for them, and as they hailed a second taxi, he wondered where it would be taking them. Jack whispered something to the driver, too quiet for any of them to hear, and they were on their way.

The traffic had grown significantly worse since they'd first ventured out from HD Academy around seven. To kill his boredom, Damian repeatedly tapped Zeo on his left. Zeo kept blaming Jack, but the artist was too blissfully oblivious to care as Zeo became more and more agitated yelling at him to stop. Over an hour later, they finally arrived at their destination. It was swarmed with people.

Damian knit his eyebrows in confusion. Why would Jack have brought them to Times Square? It was overcrowded for some reason and-

Oh. Times Square. New Year's Eve. Of course.

Jack wanted them to be here for when the ball dropped, ushering in the new year.

Zeo was obviously thinking along the same lines, annoyed. "Jack, this is the absolute worst place to be tonight. People have been setting up camps here for days so they can watch the ball drop. We should just go back to the academy."

"Never!" Jack admonished him. "Besides, Dr. Ziggurat will be less than pleased to see us back so early."

He shoved people aside, eliciting many a dirty look as Zeo and Damian traipsed after him. Zeo sent apologetic looks at those glaring at him as he passed, but they did little good. Soon, Jack had found a spot for himself along the barrier.

Damian rolled his eyes as Jack began speaking animatedly to a reporter, a camera zoomed in on him. There was really no reason for him to be here, but Damian had no desire to go back to the academy just yet.

"Damian!" Jack chirped. An agonized look was across his face. "We don't have any holiday gear! Go get us some! Zeo and I will stay here and hold down the fort." Jack shoved a wad of bills in his face.

Damian shrugged, meandering out of the crowd and over to where a line of vendors tried to coerce innocent pedestrians into buying their merchandise.

Damian looked at one vendor's products. The display was lit up by a warm yellow light. A variety of colors sparkled in front of him as he studied them. He wanted to find the most ridiculous, most humiliating thing for Zeo to wear, but chances were Jack would end up taking it for himself. Once finished with the purchases, he made his way back to where the other HD Academy bladers waited.

Damian produced the items from a brown paper bag. Jack squealed as he snatched a sparkly tinsel-laden feather boa and wrapped it around him. Jack also took the hat boldly declaring the upcoming year with sparklers sticking out of it and propped it up on his head.

Zeo looked at the items remaining, then took a step back from Damian. Damian snickered.

"What, Zeo, no holiday spirit? Shouldn't you have learned from Christmas?" Damian grinned.

In such close quarters, Zeo had nowhere to go without making a lot of people angry or coming up against resistance. Damian jumped on the opportunity, and forced a pair of New Year's glasses over Zeo's eyes. Zeo glared at him balefully. Damian was too overcome with laughter to care.

It didn't last long though. Jack had taken the other hat Damian had purchased, one nearly identical to the one Jack wore, and rather than sticking on Zeo like Damian had intended, Jack pushed it on top of Damian's beanie.

"Seriously, Jack?"

"We _all_ need to participate in this, Damian!"

Zeo barked a laugh, causing Damian to retaliate by sticking a New Year's Eve headband on his head and wrapping him tight in yet another feather boa, nearly choking him. The only way to ensure Zeo ended up in something silly had been to buy multiples of the same, strange items each vendor furiously advertised.

The crowd suddenly fell silent as their attention was drawn to the ball set up high in the air. Slowly, it began to slide down. Jack shrieked with delight.

The ball descended, the crowd counting down excitedly with infectious energy.

"ONE!"

All of a sudden, confetti burst into the air around them. Zeo couldn't see Jack or Damian anywhere. It completely obscured the view, coupled with the roar of the crowd as it erupted into pandemonium. As it petered out, Zeo caught a glimpse of Jack on the ground, stuffing as much of the confetti as he could into his pockets. Zeo's smile slipped, imagining where it was most likely to end up.

Next to him, some young girl probably close to their age had grabbed Damian and was kissing him on the cheek. Damian's eyes were wide open and he quickly pushed her away, his face turning red. The girl skipped off happily. Zeo tried to conceal his laughter, knowing if Damian caught him he'd be a dead man. Zeo didn't dare consider how Damian would retaliate.

Jack stood up, having noticed as well. Confetti poured out of his pockets. "Excellent, Damian! You got a New Year's kiss, good for you! That's a glorious sign for your upcoming year!"

Zeo was positive that if looks could kill, both the girl and Jack would be dead on the ground.

As the crowd's excitement died down, Zeo had a moment to reflect. This year hadn't been great for him, admittedly. But now, he had a plan for the new year. Toby would be saved. If Masamune ever came around again, Zeo didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive him. Zeo wasn't the same blader Masamune had known. He was so much stronger now.

The final flakes of confetti rained down, settling onto the snow-covered earth.

* * *

Several hours later, Dr. Ziggurat awoke. His soiree had gone better than planned and he was now in the midst of a well-deserved rest. He turned on the lights, and immediately saw his room was sparkling from floor to ceiling. He blinked.

Upon closer inspection, he quickly realized it was the same type of confetti he'd seen on television while watching the ball drop. His eyes narrowed, remembering who he'd watched talking to a reporter at the event on the screen. There was no question how the confetti had got there.

"JACK!"


	3. Valentine's Day at HD Academy

**Happy Valentine's Day, all! Make sure you all take advantage of the candy sales tomorrow :D Thank you very much to Guest and SailorCandy for your reviews of the last installment! Toby will definitely be making an appearance at some point, just not this soon. I was looking forward to writing this particular oneshot, but then it ended up being harder to come up with something than I'd expected. See you all for the next holiday! Enjoy!**

 **I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

Jack stepped back to admire his work. Pink streamers dripped from the ceiling or were otherwise wrapped around the railings of stairways. Jack had also discovered a discount pink tree on sale after Christmas that he'd purchased on a whim, then dragged through the streets of New York City all the way to HD Academy. Now, the neon tree stood proud where their Christmas tree had once been, decorated with hearts of varying sizes and colors dangling from each artificial branch.

Jack carried his special paints Dr. Ziggurat provided him down the hallway. The paints were washable, designed for use on walls without causing lasting damage. Jack wasn't fond of having his work erased, but it gave him the opportunity to paint something new where the old had once been, so he tolerated the restriction. He stopped midway, examining the wall before dipping his hands into a container that housed a particular vivid shade of pink. He began painting a large heart. Once it was complete, he started adding orange and red flames around the edges of the heart. He moved on to the next section of wall. After he finished sprucing up the halls, Jack felt HD Academy would finally be properly ready for Valentine's Day.

Damian appeared down the hallway, a look of disgust growing across his face. Jack ignored it. The two of them had both been at the academy for several months now. Jack cared little for Damian's constant disdain of Jack's desire to bring festivity to each holiday, but he accepted it. Damian was simply not a creative. He was inherently incapable of understanding Jack's genius, and for that Jack pitied him.

"Don't you think this is a little much?" Damian asked, leaning against the wall. Jack didn't bother telling him the heart his shoulder pressed against was still wet. The red would add some color to his generally boring white cape.

"Hardly," Jack scoffed. "I haven't nearly had enough time to bring this place up to my standards, but this will have to suffice for now."

"This is completely over the top. You're completely over the top. I still haven't forgotten about what happened two weeks ago," Damian said darkly. Jack cringed.

After the new year, Dr. Ziggurat had informed his top three students that a world championship competition for beyblade would be taking place, making the three of them busier than ever. While in a fervor of disarray, Jack had nearly forgotten about Groundhog Day. He'd barely been able to forgive himself for the indiscretion.

On the second of February he'd woken in a panic, realizing he'd made a horrible mistake. Luckily, he'd inadvertently woken up at four in the morning. Immediately, Jack set out to righting those wrongs. It was too late for him to appropriately decorate, but there was still something else he could do. The construction paper groundhogs he'd planned on making would have to wait until next year.

Jack had raced to Damian's room, ripping the covers from his sleeping form, sending Damian flying off his bed.

Before Damian had a chance to respond, Jack had dragged him over to the TV and the two of them sat in front of it for hours watching ads for diet supplements, workout equipment, and varying other infomercials until Punxsutawney Phil was brought out. Jack squealed as the groundhog stepped out into the early morning.

Damian had kicked up a fuss the entire time, which annoyed Jack. How he could be so uncouth on such a glorious day was beyond him. In retaliation, Jack had tied Damian to a chair with duct tape around 4:30 to prevent him from leaving. By 7:25 when the ceremony was set to take place, Damian had stopped fighting back, staring at the screen with dead eyes.

Jack dragged himself out of the flashback. "Please, Damian, you and I both know that was absolutely necessary. And the groundhog didn't even see his shadow! We don't have to endure six more weeks of insufferable winter. An early spring is sure to come as the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil foretold!"

Damian looked at him disbelievingly. "Sure, Jack, whatever you say. I still don't understand why you had to drag me into it."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Damian, we have been over this. Groundhog Day is an important American tradition. Zeo has clearly been under a lot of duress lately. I simply could not justify waking him up. Besides, I knew you would appreciate it much more than he ever would."

"Zeo's going to be under a lot more duress soon if I have anything to say about it," Damian muttered.

"Oh, cheer up, Damian! Valentine's Day is right around the corner!"

Damian started to walk away. "Jack, Valentine's Day is nothing more than a day for companies to sell overpriced flowers and tacky cards. It's overrated."

Jack smiled benignly as he continued painting. Damian was always so bitter. Some love in his life would surely fix that. Jack would make certain Damian would have a fantastic Valentine's Day.

Jack added some silver sparkles. A small idea was slowly growing in his mind.

* * *

Zeo launched his bey. Ever since Dr. Ziggurat had announced the Beyblade World Championships were set to start in a few months, practice hours had been steadily increasing. It had yet to be confirmed, but Zeo was fairly convinced he, Jack, and Damian would be the ones chosen to represent the American team. HD Academy was one of if not the most prestigious beyblade academy in the United States. It only made sense their bladers would be selected.

That being said however, Zeo had been subjected to a few more arrangements. Zeo had been exposed to the system previously, but now Dr. Ziggurat was scheduling him to use it on almost a weekly basis. Zeo grimaced. He strongly disliked the arrangements, but he wasn't about to say anything. Not with Toby's health on the line.

Zeo peeked over at the group practicing in the small circular arena next to him. Three girls shouted out commands to their beys, paying him little attention. Zeo reset his bey and resumed practicing his launches.

Zeo was used to the other students giving him little notice. Zeo, Damian, and Jack were generally kept separate from everyone else, and even had access to private arenas to train in if they wanted. Still, it got lonely from time to time. He didn't really have time to interact with anyone else.

A pink and silver blob exploded in front of him, jarring his thoughts. Zeo yelped, and stumbled backwards.

Jack beamed down at him. Jack was covered in sparkling silver tinsel from head to toe. Zeo had learned long ago to stop asking questions.

He groaned, returning to his feet. "Jack, what is it now?"

Jack's hair shook from side to side, tinsel falling to the floor. "Zeo, I have been struck by a most wondrous idea!"

Zeo took a step back. "I'm sure you have. I need to go-"

Jack grabbed Zeo's shoulder. He motioned to the nearby girls. "Are you aware of the holiday mere days away?"

Realization dawned on him. "No way, Jack. I have way too much going on in my life for a girlfriend." Zeo looked at the girls again from the corner of his eye. Sure, they were kind of cute, but Zeo wasn't about to let Jack get him tied up in a new mess.

"No, no! You misunderstand me! I'm talking about Damian!"

Zeo's jaw nearly dropped. "Damian? Jack, are you serious?"

Jack looked affronted. "Absolutely! Don't you see this is fantastic? Damian is always causing mischief and has no appreciation for the finer things in life. Introducing love into his life will clearly make things much better for all!"

Zeo highly doubted it. He wished he could lock himself in the room for the next few days and wait out the storm.

Over the course of the next few days, Jack jumped on Damian every chance he got, pestering him with question after question.

Jack had assigned Zeo the job of scoping out the available girls at HD Academy, since Damian was less likely to answer Zeo and more likely to prank him. Zeo had only agreed to help Jack in his quest for one reason: Jack had gone to Zeo's room and threatened to douse it in glitter and cover the walls with glow-in-the-dark stars from floor to ceiling if he refused.

Zeo tried to look at it from a positive angle. If the plan worked, maybe things between Zeo and Damian would be better. Damian would have less time to dedicate to tormenting Zeo if he was busy with a girlfriend. It also gave Zeo a chance to meet new people.

Zeo was back in one of the training rooms. He saw two girls battling against each other and moved closer to them, trying to act casual.

One of the girls looked at him, locking him in a piercing stare. Zeo turned away, but the girl didn't break her gaze. Her hair was dark, almost black. She marched over to Zeo.

"Can I help you with something?" She asked, eyes flashing. Her friend came over as well. The second girl had brown hair, with two pink braids framing the sides of her face. She didn't say anything.

Zeo stammered. "Uh, no, everything's good here."

"There's like, six empty arenas here. Why did you move closer to me and Anastasia?" The dark haired girl continued.

"I'm Zeo," Zeo introduced, flailing. This was so not going as planned. He was going to give Jack hell for this later.

"Calm down, Helena," Anastasia said, stepping in front of her friend. Her voice was fairly soft. She gave Zeo a small smile. "It's really not that big of a deal."

"I'm really tired of all these male bladers thinking they're better than us just because we're girls," Helena complained. "That's why we joined the academy, remember? So the next time they challenge us, we'll crush them."

Zeo had started to inch back towards the exit nearest him while the girls talked. Just then, Jack burst into the opposite side of the room.

"Oh, Zeo!" He cried. Jack ran all the way over to Zeo. "Come with me! I've finally figured it out!"

Jack forcibly escorted Zeo by the arm all the way to the elevator then to his room, leaving both girls looking a little lost and uncertain. Jack peered outside to make sure no one was looking, then locked the door. Zeo's face darkened. The last time he'd been in Jack's room the artist had decided to use his face as a canvas.

Zeo sat warily in a chair. Jack quickly applied some vivid pink lipstick. He took out a plain white envelope, then kissed it, leaving a colorful mark. Zeo watched on in confusion and fear. Next Jack took out another envelope, and two sheets of white paper. He handed one to Zeo, along with a black marker.

"What's this for?" Zeo asked cautiously.

"Just write down what I tell you!" Jack instructed. "Now, tell me about those two girls, Zeo."

"Uh, sure. The girl with the pink and brown hair is Anastasia and the girl with the darker hair is Helena. Anastasia is kind of shy and Helena is kind of…not."

"Hmmm," Jack pondered. "I wonder which would be best for Damian."

 _Probably neither_ , Zeo wanted to say, but he knew he had to go along with this for just a little longer. There was no point in invoking Jack's wrath.

"Aha!" Jack snapped his fingers. "I've got it. Let's get to work!"

* * *

Jack was definitely up to something. Every time Damian found himself alone, Jack was suddenly there, bombarding him with a series of nonsensical questions. Damian didn't understand what Jack was possibly trying to get at when he asked Damian what his favorite species of marine mammal was.

On Valentine's Day, Damian woke up, already dreading what was to come. The night before, Jack had taken over the kitchen, baking sugar cookies in the shape of hearts with red and pink frosting, complemented by matching sprinkles. Jack had alluded to the fact that he planned to do some more cooking, and Damian did not want to be present for whatever the pink-haired blader had in mind.

Damian opened his door. On the floor, he noticed two cards. He picked them up.

The first one was from Jack. It was a Valentine's Day card with a cat on it holding a heart saying "You're Pawesome!" Jack had signed his name three times in different colors. Damian threw the card in the trash.

The second card was in an envelope. Damian flipped it over, and saw it had been kissed on the back. Before opening it, Damian looked around the hall, but he saw no one was there.

Damian pulled out the card inside. He discovered that, rather than a card, there was a letter waiting for him. In an elegant, flourishing script it read:

 _I have been waiting a long time for this. Please, meet me tonight at eight on the first floor of the academy near the doors. Bring this._

The letter was not signed, but a temporary tattoo of a bey was taped to it. Damian frowned. He flipped the letter over, hoping to find more information, but there was none. Dr. Ziggurat had alluded to the fact the Damian, Jack, and Zeo might soon be getting new beys with the world championships looming on the horizon. Maybe this was for a meeting with the person coming up with the designs. Obviously the designer would want to meet with Damian to get a clear idea of what type of bey would work best for him, right?

Either way, at eight o'clock tonight, Damian would have his answer.

That evening, Damian made his way down from the top floor ten minutes before eight. He held the bey tattoo in his hand. It seemed bizarre, but if Damian had learned anything from Jack it was that artists had a tendency to be eccentric. Anyone creating a specialized custom bey would likely be similar.

A girl with brown hair descended from a nearby staircase. She had a pink braid on either side of her face. She seemed to be looking for someone. Damian paid her little attention.

Damian crossed his arms five minutes after eight, slightly frustrated. Where was this guy? It wasn't that late, but there were definitely other things he could be doing. Damian should have confirmed with Dr. Ziggurat that the letter was indeed from the bey designer.

"Um, excuse me?"

Damian realized the girl he had seen earlier was speaking to him. She looked confused. In her hand, she also held a temporary tattoo of a bey.

"Is this from you?"

Damian looked down at his own tattoo, more confused than ever. "I-"

"Ah, there we all are!"

Jack appeared in the elevator, springing his way over to the two. "I apologize for the delay, I got a wrapped up in a project earlier and completely lost track of time! It's amazing how deeply the mind connects with the arts when one fully embraces them."

Without another word, Jack grabbed both Damian's and the girl's shoulders, pulling them back into the elevator. He hummed on the way up.

Once they reached their destination, Jack hopped out of the elevator gleefully, still hauling the other two by their hands. Finally, Jack stopped in the kitchen.

Zeo was pouring two drinks by the refrigerator. He set them on the table.

The table had been decorated with a pink tablecloth. Red lines and hearts had been drawn all over in it, by means of what Damian suspected was a Sharpie marker. Two large paper-mâche hearts were on opposing sides of the table. Silver balloons circled the table.

"Anastasia, so glad you could make it!" Jack trilled, a gleam in his eye. He pulled one of the chairs wrapped in streamers out, giving the girl no other choice but to sit down. Damian was squished into the chair on the other side of the table moments later.

Damian struggled to process what was happening. He had never seen this girl before in his life. There was absolutely no way she could have been the one to send him that note. Something was very amiss here, and Damian now knew exactly who to blame. The pieces were slowly coming together, although he didn't fully understand the reasoning behind them.

Zeo stood awkwardly in the corner. Damian didn't exactly know why he was there, other than putting drinks on the table. He could've just been passing through when Jack requested his help.

Jack had donned a white chef hat, and with a flourish he whipped the lid off a plate of spaghetti in the middle of the table. He motioned to Zeo, who quickly brought over two side salads Jack had forced him to make.

"Now that dinner has been served, I shall serenade you with a song I wrote myself!" Jack suddenly produced an accordion out of nowhere and began to sing.

Damian grabbed Jack's arm, interrupting him. Jack gave him a reproachful look, and returned to playing the accordion.

Damian's left eyebrow twitched. "Jack, I'm going to give you thirty seconds to explain what the hell is going on here."

Jack beamed a smile. "Oh, Damian! Is today not Valentine's Day, one of the happiest days of the year for lovers? You could surely benefit from the many rewards love reaps! And so I took it upon myself to become HD Academy's very own cupid!"

Damian sat very still, almost disbelieving. His lip curled back. Anastasia gripped her seat tightly, looking down at the plate of pasta in the center of the table nervously.

Jack continued, oblivious. "With Zeo's help, I conspired to bring you and the lovely Anastasia together! Here we are, in utter bliss! I can feel love's energy surging through this room! Isn't it absolutely wonderful?"

Zeo inched towards the door. Now that Jack had openly implicated his involvement to Damian, he was no longer safe. Damian would get back at him for this, make no mistake.

"Just think!" Jack cried. "In ten years, when the two of you are married, you can look back on this perfect day, your first date when everything in the universe aligned with your closest friends right by your side! What a beautiful memory this will be!"

"I'll kill you!" Damian pounced toward Jack. Jack stumbled back, taking several balloons with him as he landed partially in the sink. His accordion crashed to the floor.

"How dare you!" Jack said angrily, his chef hat now askew. "After I went to all this work, just for you! I did this to make your life better and THIS is how you repay me?"

"Come with me," Zeo instructed. He took Anastasia by the hand, half-pulling her out of her chair where she sat frozen, cowering. Damian threw a frying pan at Jack.

Zeo and Anastasia made it into the hall unscathed. They heard a clang as the pan crashed to the floor, followed by several more large bangs. He quickly led the girl to the elevator, pressing the button to take her to the bottom floor. Zeo would have preferred to go with the girl, but he had a feeling he was going to be needed in their upstairs apartment to help clean up the mess and explain things to Dr. Ziggurat. His absence would not go unnoticed.

As the elevator door closed, Anastasia looked at Zeo with wide, terrified blue eyes. There was no denying she was pretty, but Zeo got the feeling none of them would ever be seeing her again.


	4. The St Patrick's Day Extravaganza

**Happy St. Patrick's Day! Funnily enough, I have been working on this since Wednesday, struggling to figure out what to do about it, yet it turned out to be the longest of these oneshots yet. A huge thank you to Pip the Mighty Squeak and SailorCandy for your reviews last chapter; glad you guys are loving this. Enjoy, everyone, and I'll see you for the next holiday!**

 **I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

"This is absolutely absurd and unspeakably unfair!"

"Jack, for the last time, you cannot go out and celebrate St. Patrick's Day with myself and the adults who manage HD Academy. You're a teenager."

"B-But Dr. Ziggurat!" Jack spluttered. "You do realize you are denying me the opportunity to properly and effectively celebrate a holiday! This is a violation of the highest caliber!"

Dr. Ziggurat sighed. "I'm sorry, Jack, but the bars won't allow you entrance without appropriate proof of identification. It would be nothing more than a waste of your time, I'm afraid."

Dr. Ziggurat walked out of the kitchen, signaling the conversation was over. Jack glowered at his retreating back. It was so wrong for him to be denied the ability to celebrate a holiday merely because he was under the age of twenty-one. Jack didn't even care about the alcoholic aspects; he simply wanted to be engaged in the excitement of it all and use those energies to feed his creative capacities.

"I'll show him," the pink-haired blader muttered. "I'll show them all…"

* * *

Zeo apprehensively took a step outside his bedroom door. Today was St. Patrick's Day, a day many American adults used as an excuse to wear excessive amounts of green and drink green beer and Guinness, or do shots of Jameson.

What concerned Zeo more than the potential for drunks to be out loitering the streets was Jack. Jack always celebrated every holiday to the fullest extent and Zeo had become accustomed to the practice more or less, but so far, he had done little to address the Irish holiday. There wasn't a green streamer to be seen anywhere in the lofty penthouse apartment of HD Academy.

When Zeo entered the main hall and didn't see a shamrock in sight, he was concerned. When Zeo popped into the kitchen and didn't see a single speck of green, he was downright terrified. Something was horribly wrong.

Last week, Zeo had overheard Jack chatting animatedly about the holiday to Damian, who seemed bored out of his mind. Jack had spoken of his usual plans to decorate. Zeo wondered what could have possibly happened to alter Jack's plans so drastically.

Damian appeared in the kitchen, looking mildly uneasy despite the fact that he was the undisputed leader of Team Star Breaker, using his small yet frightening stature to keep the other two bladers in line, not that that ever worked particularly well. Jack proved impossible to restrain, and well, Zeo did his best to avoid Damian at all costs. Damian was forever pulling pranks on Zeo. The most recent attempt to torment Zeo had been following the Valentine's Day fiasco.

Jack had taken it upon himself to set Damian up on a pink love-themed date that backfired spectacularly. Zeo found himself caught in the crossfire, forced to help Jack in his endeavors against his will, and ultimately paid a price for his involvement.

Damian had somehow rigged the shower to only produce blisteringly hot water. When Zeo discovered he couldn't turn off the showerhead, he tried leaving the bathroom, only to learn the door had been locked from the outside. Much to his dismay, the drain in the tub didn't work either. Zeo was resigned to standing as best he could in the sink while the room filled with the overflowing burning water and steam that rendered it impossible to see until Jack finally took pity on him after learning of Damian's plot. Jack opened the door, sending the water rushing out. Zeo had to buy Jack a new pair of shoes as payment for his rescue, since his had been ruined by the flood. It had been a small price to pay compared to potentially having his skin seared off.

So, Zeo's immediate distrust the moment Damian joined him in the kitchen was one hundred percent justified.

"Have you seen Jack?" Damian asked, echoing Zeo's thoughts. Zeo shook his head, looking for a bagel.

The next few hours passed with little activity. Because Jack allegedly refused to leave his room for reasons unknown, Dr. Ziggurat took only Damian and Zeo out for a late lunch as a reward for their hard work since learning of the Beyblade World Championships. The three had just earned their spots as the American representatives several days prior. Other countries were still determining their teams, as the tournament wasn't set to start until May.

What they didn't expect but perhaps should have was the change that had taken place at HD Academy when they returned an hour later at 4:00.

The lack of decorations had been replaced by an extreme overabundance. Looking everything over, it was impossible to believe it all had been accomplished in a mere sixty minutes. A certain someone had outdone himself this time.

The moment they exited the elevator, Dr. Ziggurat, Zeo, and Damian were greeted by an explosion of green. Tiny flashy green shamrocks and sparkles had been dumped out of a glitter packet or five all along the hall. Gold coins were also scattered about. Enormous bright green shamrocks were painted on the walls, rimmed with golden sparkles.

In the room where the Christmas tree had once stood, and later the nauseating Valentine's Day tree, the latter had been replaced by yet another artificial tree. This one was pastel green with shamrocks that had been cut from construction paper dangling from the branches.

As with every holiday, streamers were hung all over the ceiling in every room, wrapping up the bannister of the stairway as well. Additionally, a shimmering green garland was stuck to the bottoms and tops of the walls, up against the trim.

Leading into the kitchen, strips of gold foil fell from the doorway, creating a curtain. On the table, a large sparkling green hat had been placed. Small Irish flags littered the countertops. The three stared, mouths agape.

Jack chose that moment to make his grand entrance. "Well, what do you think?" He didn't bother waiting for a response. Jack showered Dr. Ziggurat in gold coins, and forced headbands with shamrocks attached to springs jutting off them onto the heads of his teammates. Jack gave each of them a balloon.

"Jack, this is a little much," Dr. Ziggurat began, but Jack cut him off. Jack himself was wearing a green felt hat with an orange beard attached that clashed horribly with his pink hair. He wore a matched sequined green suit.

He waved off Dr. Ziggurat. "Oh, please. There's nothing wrong about getting a little festive every now and again." To prove his point, he took more gold coins out of his pocket and threw them about.

Dr. Ziggurat simply walked out of the room, muttering under his breath about how he was glad to finally be getting a break tonight.

Jack's eyes twinkled as he addressed the two remaining occupants of the room. "Just you wait, the best is yet to come."

Damian stared, speechless, and Zeo seized his chance, fleeing to his room.

By seven, Dr. Ziggurat was out the door. Jack watched him walk across the street with a satisfied expression. It served the doctor right. He'd been so difficult, telling Jack he couldn't go to the bar, but in the end things had worked out just fine. Jack had a big surprise for Zeo, and everything needed to go off without a hitch. At this point, Dr. Ziggurat would have served to be nothing more than an annoying complication.

Jack quickly rushed to the kitchen. He filled up the drink cups, presenting them on a shamrock-shaped tray. Most of the food for this wondrous occasion had been made earlier when the others were out during his decorating frenzy. A few nights he had even sneaked into the kitchen at midnight to work on other hors d'oeuvres over the past week once Dr. Ziggurat crushed his initial plans to celebrate.

Jack raced over to the elevator. He needed to be a good host, but he couldn't be a host without guests! Jack had invited a large portion of HD Academy's students to attend, though none of them could get up to the penthouse without Jack there to plug in the password. Jack straightened out his outfit, admiring the green sparkles.

Unfortunately, Jack had been unable to locate Anastasia, the lovely lady he had set Damian up on a date with last month. He couldn't imagine where she could have gotten off to. He'd checked everywhere, even going so far to open the door to the girls' locker room and calling her name. He didn't go in, of course, Jack had far too much class to be that gauche. It was a shame, really. Damian and Anastasia were a match made in heaven as far as he was concerned.

About twenty curious people had shown up, which worked perfect for Jack. He was pretty sure he had invited about fifty, or maybe it was seventy-five, the number didn't really matter. Most of the students were unfamiliar with Jack and the other members of Team Star Breaker, so it was understandable their apprehension. More than likely they had been too intimidated by Jack's regal disposition and other glowing attributes. He couldn't blame them. At least there would be plenty of leftovers to dangle over Ziggurat's head. If Jack couldn't join the doctor, then Dr. Ziggurat would likewise be excluded from Jack's party.

Jack took half of the group, squeezing them into the elevator, then set them free into the penthouse before going back for the rest of the group.

The sudden onset of loud noise startled Zeo. He'd been lying on his bed, staring at his bey, when what sounded like a stampede resonated through the apartment. He jolted up, mind whirring. Dr. Ziggurat had said he was going out tonight, hadn't he? There wasn't supposed to be anything going on at the academy tonight.

Tentatively, Zeo walked over to his door. He took a deep breath to steady himself before opening it, knowing in his heart he would never be ready to face whatever was behind it.

Zeo jumped out of his room and slammed the door immediately shut upon seeing a group of students parading past him. None of them were getting in his room, although how they had gotten up to the penthouse in the first place was a mystery…

Two seconds later, at the end of the group, Jack appeared, cheerful as ever. Zeo's eyes narrowed. He should've known.

Before he even had a chance to protest, Jack pulled him into the crowd. He pushed his way to the front, commanding everyone stop in front of the tree the moment they reached it. Jack dragged a chair over and stood atop it.

"Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Jack's HD Academy St. Patrick's Day Extravaganza! This evening is a night of celebration!"

He hopped off the chair, signaling for everyone to start running off again. Zeo groaned. Damian appeared from close to the stairs, livid.

Jack failed to notice the distaste of his teammates. He raised his arms up, eyes closed. "Ahh, this is perfect! I'm feeling so inspired!" He rapidly opened his eyes. "But, just this once, art must wait!"

Jack dashed into the kitchen, Zeo and Damian reluctantly following him. Heaping mounds of food were spread out on the countertops. The table was filled entirely with potato dishes.

"Jack, you need to send these people home," Zeo said. "Dr. Ziggurat is not gonna be happy when he gets back."

"Pfft, Ziggurat! I'm not worried about him." Jack grabbed two green drinks from the counter. "Here; take these."

Zeo warily accepted the cup. The green liquid seemed harmless enough, but he wasn't about to take any chances. Sure, it didn't look like Damian had a hand in any of this based off his aggravated expression, but that didn't mean just because he wasn't involved didn't mean it was safe to trust anything from Jack.

Damian took a sip, then threw the cup with disgust. It bounced off some poor blader's head, sending liquid spraying in every direction.

"Jack, why did you fill all these cups with water and green food coloring?" Damian glared.

"Well obviously, Damian, I was not going to be able to get my hands on any beer. Not that I wanted to," Jack shuddered. "Why would I want to buy a drink that turns people into foolish beasts, grotesque caricatures of themselves that stumble about and cannot say a single sentence without slurring? That wretched substance is not allowed at my party, no sir! It is not elegant in the slightest I tell you!"

Now agitated, Jack began to walk away, out of the kitchen in the direction of the elevator. Zeo and Damian chased after him.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Zeo called.

"Nothing for you to worry about, my friend! I'll be back soon enough. Keep an eye on the party while I'm gone, won't you?" Jack stepped into the elevator, disappearing as the doors closed shut.

Zeo turned to Damian in horror, looking at the situation he now found himself in. On one hand, there was a raging party that was now picking up in the kitchen if the loud music blaring out of speakers that someone must've brought along with them was anything to go by. On the other hand, Damian was now Zeo's closest ally, the only one here he had anything remotely resembling a relationship with and the only one he could rely on to help decide what their course of action would be. Both were massive causes for concern.

"Can we kick them out?" Damian muttered.

Zeo risked a look in the kitchen. One person was standing on the table. Another threw a loaded potato at someone, but missed, causing the poor potato to splatter against the wall, leaving behind a mess of cheese, sour cream, and bacon bits.

Other than that, people were dancing about in the halls, chatting, and seemingly having a good time as they held their cups with green water. Zeo had to admit, it kind of looked like fun.

Dr. Ziggurat was definitely going to be furious when he got back, there was no denying that. But then, the damage was already done. There was no way Zeo and Damian could clean up the mess themselves before he returned, especially with Jack now MIA.

Zeo glanced around. He didn't know many of the people, but they were all bladers. They had something in common. Since Toby's hospitalization and Masamune's departure, Zeo had been pretty lonely. Maybe this was his chance to change that.

"Hey, Damian," Zeo began idly. "You wanna just let Jack take the heat for this one?"

Damian smirked. "Works for me."

Zeo let his eyes wander around the room. He almost wished Anastasia and her friend (Zeo had long since forgotten the other girl's name) were around, but that was highly, highly unlikely. He didn't even know if they were still at the academy; there was a fairly high turnover rate these days. Even if he didn't properly know the two girls, he at least knew who they were and they would have known others, and could've introduced him to new people. As it was, he didn't recognize anyone.

Zeo shrugged, and went inside the kitchen. Wherever food was, there was bound to be fun people.

Someone had set up a makeshift "beer" pong table by moving all the potatoes to the counter and arranging the green water cups accordingly. Zeo would get in on the next round.

The current round went on for quite a while before it was finally Zeo's turn. Much to his own relief he did not make a fool out of himself, actually winning the game. A girl with red hair and a smattering of freckles across her nose came up to him and invited Zeo to join her and her friends in the living room. Zeo happily accepted the invitation, feeling much better than he had in a while.

Once in the living room, Zeo was introduced to a few of the rare female bladers that attended HD Academy. All of them looked him over with interest as they finally met one of the bladers making up the American representative team.

Zeo heard the elevator ding from the living room. He excused himself from the girl he was talking to, and went over to check it out. Hopefully, it was Jack returning. Zeo never thought he'd want that, but the alternative, Dr. Ziggurat returning would be a major issue with the party in full swing. If Zeo and Damian were going to blame this on Jack, Jack needed to be present-

Zeo froze, stopping dead in his tracks in the middle of the hall.

Jack had returned, but he'd brought someone else with him.

Zeo's mouth refused to work. His eyes were wide as he desperately attempted to connect the dots that would allow him to make sense of the situation.

The boy sitting in the wheelchair Jack pushed was slightly frailer than it had once been, but the violet eyes still shone with vitality. The boy pushed his long brown hair back and grinned.

"Miss me, Zeo?"

Zeo let out a strangled cry. "T-Toby?" he managed. "How-"

Jack stepped out from behind the wheelchair. "Surprise! I thought it would be great for you and Toby to reconnect at such a fabulous event. Toby is our guest of honor!"

Zeo ran over to Toby. "How did he get you out of the hospital?" he asked fervently. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm fine, Zeo," Toby said gently. "My nurse is Jack's aunt. She agreed that it would be okay for me to go out for one night. My parents are fine with it, too. As long as I'm back by tomorrow, everything will be fine."

Zeo's face morphed into an expression a mixture of excitement and pure agony. He was so, so glad to see his best friend, yet horrified that Jack had such easy access to Toby, especially when it came to getting him out of the hospital. How had Jack even found out about Toby in the first place?! Zeo thought his head would burst.

A loud booming voice echoed out of a microphone. Zeo cringed. Naturally Jack had managed to get his hand on one of those.

Zeo pushed Toby's wheelchair into the living room where Jack clapping his hands together, drawing all attention to him before making his announcement. It wasn't really necessary, since everyone's attention usually went to Jack the moment he entered a room anyway.

"Hello once again, my friends! I trust we are all having a marvelous time! Now, it is time for the Great Gold Search!"

Almost every set of ears in the room perked up. Slight whispered murmuring began as the occupants wondered what it could possibly mean.

"Now, now, settle down! Somewhere in this penthouse, I have hidden a lump of gold! Yes, it's true! The first one to bring it to me wins! Once that happens, I shall blow this whistle I have here around my neck, and we will reconvene in here to celebrate the winner," Jack glanced at the nonexistent watch on his left arm. "The Great Gold Search begins… NOW! May the luck of the Irish be with you!"

With the proclamation, the room exploded into a frenzy of flurried activity. Zeo jumped in front of Toby so his friend wouldn't get hurt in the chaos.

"What are you doing?" Toby laughed. "C'mon, let's go find that gold!"

Zeo grinned. He took control of Toby's wheelchair, and tore down the hall. Luckily for them, he knew this apartment better than most. That gold was theirs.

"Faster, Zeo!" Toby cried.

Their first stop was Zeo's room. While he tried to keep it inaccessible and locked at most times, Zeo didn't doubt the potential for Jack to somehow have forced his way inside. They were in luck, too. Hardly anyone was in the hall.

Zeo quickly tore apart his own room. Toby dug through the desk. Once the mattress had been upended, they had to accept that the gold was simply not there. Leaving Zeo's room utterly trashed, they returned to the hallway.

"There's a bathroom down this way." Zeo was already heading in that direction before he finished speaking. Toby nodded.

Damian came out of the bathroom as they opened the door. He sneered at them before running off.

"Do you think he found it?" Zeo asked.

Toby looked back toward Damian and shook his head. "I don't think so. He's walking pretty slow, so I'd guess he's trying to decide what room to check out next."

"Okay," Zeo said, relieved. "Let's double-check this room just to be sure he didn't miss anything, just in case." A quick scan showed the bathroom was empty.

Zeo's next suggestion was Jack's room. He was unfortunately well acquainted with it. He knew there were hundreds of art supplies in there. A chunk of gold could easily be hidden among them.

Jack's room was locked. Zeo jiggled the door handle once more.

"What to we do now?" Toby asked.

There had to be a way inside. The two of them needed to figure out how to undo the lock fast before anyone else made it here and beat them to the glittering gold.

A shrill whistle resounded throughout the penthouse. Toby and Zeo exchanged a look. Someone had just won!

By the time they made it back to the living room, it was already overcrowded. They shoved their way over to the corner and waited to hear what came next.

"And our winner is… Damian!" Jack cheered. He and Damian stood at the front of the room next to the tv. Damian stood on a stool Jack had dragged out and covered with streamers and confetti. The gold piece was in his hands. Two girls in skimpy green and gold outfits stood on either side of him. They looked like they might be in their 20s, probably college-aged. Zeo wondered how Jack had managed to convince the girls to come to the academy, but then it was Jack. More and more Zeo learned it was best not to question it.

"Yes, it's true! Damian here has won himself a five pound lump of fool's gold!"

Damian's eyes widened. Just then, the two girls picked up an enormous bucket. They held it over Damian's head for a second before flipping it over and dousing him in a wave of rushing green water.

"Fool's gold? Jack, what are you on about now?" Damian bared his teeth as he looked over his prize, spitting water out as he choked on his words. His soaking wet hair dripped as it hung down in his face. He pushed it to the side.

"Why, that golden rock you hold is in fact pyrite, not actual gold!" Jack cackled. "Like the Irish leprechauns of legends, I thought it might be fun to cause a little tricky mischief of my own! Everyone, come take some!" Jack threw pyrite from his pockets on to the floor, then handed more to the curious bladers who came close to investigate. Damian seethed.

Zeo smiled slightly as he shook his head, one hand on Toby's wheelchair. He should've expected this. There was no way Jack could have possibly gotten his hand on a piece of gold that big. Still, the crazed search had been a lot of fun. Despite his original misgivings, tonight had turned into a genuine good time.

* * *

Dr. Ziggurat stumbled into HD Academy at two am, having been shooed out of the bar across the street by a tired bartender looking to close after the extra busy night. He wobbled over to the elevator.

He hadn't intended to be out this late, but plans changed. They always did. One of their scientists had a little too much fun, and thought it would be a great idea to challenge the head doctor to a drinking contest. Far, far too many shots had been downed, but Dr. Ziggurat had stood his ground and won that competition no contest. He'd had yet another shot to celebrate his dominating victory.

Dr. Ziggurat mashed the button at the foot of the elevator, slapping it over and over again with hand. He heard the elevator coming down from high above and giggled to himself.

When the door finally opened, he staggered into the elevator, running his hand along all the buttons, trying to remember which one led to the apartment. He giggled a second time. After a few minutes, he realized it was the one at the top. Of course. That was logical…

His brain went off in another direction while he numbly typed in the passcode. The numbers kept blurring in front of him.

The first thing he noticed was the blaring noise that hailed him as he zigzagged into the hallway. Lights were flashing everywhere, hurting his head.

Ziggurat walked into the living room. The music stopped. All conversation ceased. The lights stopped spinning. The room became dead quiet. He became vaguely aware of at least a dozen teenagers staring at him with expressions ranging from scared to defensive to uneasy. That wasn't right. HD Academy only had three bladers that lived in the penthouse, he thought sleepily. It didn't make sense for so many to be up there.

He located Zeo, who looked particularly nervous. Ziggurat couldn't figure out why. Although, there were three Zeos now. That was odd. Ziggurat slumped into an empty armchair.

"Happy St. Paddy's Dayyy," he slurred.

"Happy St. Patrick's Day, Dr. Ziggurat," Zeo 1, 2, and 3 responded in unison with obvious anxious tension in their voices.

The last thing Ziggurat noticed before his eyes closed and he passed out was a boy in a wheelchair. He smiled to himself as he eyed the boy with interest. He had big plans for that particular teenager…


	5. April Fool's Day

**Happy April Fool's Day, that one lovely day a year dedicated to pranking your friends and family XD I really really wanted to write a oneshot for this, but I've been so busy, which is why this is so short compared to other chapters. But hey, it's here! Also shoutout to SailorCandy for the review, there will be more Toby in later chapters.**

 **First, a little personal** **headcannon: so we know the arrangements mess with the personalities of the bladers who receive them, and we never really see Damian before he received them, making it unclear how much his actual personality was affected. I like to think he's naturally not quite as sadistic as he's shown in the show, so I see him as a bit of a prankster, and those traits were amplified and became darker and twisted as he received more arrangements. But that's just me, and that's why I write him the way I do.**

 **I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

Damian cautiously took a step out of his room into the silent hallway at two am the morning of April 1st.

He'd been waiting for this day for a while. It was April Fool's Day, and as far as Damian was concerned, Dr. Ziggurat couldn't do a thing in retaliation to whatever pranks Damian pulled this morning. As far as he was concerned, he was completely justified in his actions, not that he didn't usually have a valid reason for what he did. Revenge was his typical motivator.

Besides, what would Ziggurat do, subject him to more arrangements? Damian already spent more time than anyone else in the chamber, especially since he had become a member of the American representative team for the Beyblade World Championships. Damian was pretty much their leader, too. Jack couldn't be relied on or trusted in a position of power, and Zeo was too preoccupied with his friends. Damian was the natural choice and Ziggurat wasn't about to let him go so easily. He wouldn't do anything that could cause Damian to leave.

Damian sneered. Ziggurat didn't even need to worry; he wasn't the target this evening. In fact, for once Zeo wasn't his target either. Damian could get Zeo anytime. He'd probably just set up something simple today for Zeo, like rigging the bathroom sink so it sprayed water in his face. That would suffice.

Today, Damian was setting his sights on Jack. Damian had yet to forget the Valentine's Day fiasco, and he really had yet to get back at him for it. This just happened to be the perfect occasion.

To a certain degree, Jack wasn't really that complicated. Overall, the pink-haired blader was a complete psycho and Damian couldn't begin to understand what was going on his deranged mind, but on the surface, Jack really only cared about the beautiful things, namely art.

Damian would take that obsession of Jack's and turn it into his weakness.

As he crept down the hall, Damian took a moment to appreciate that the walls were completely empty. Normally Jack overdecorated to the extreme. It was nice to see a change. The St. Patrick's Day decorations had been torn down about a week ago, well after the over-the-top party Jack had thrown.

Damian grimaced. Jack had made a fool out of him that night too, by tricking him into thinking the fool's gold he'd found was real. Worse, there had been an entire crowd to witness that embarrassment. Even more reason that Damian would make sure Jack knew his place on Team Star Breaker. This time, it was Jack who would be the fool.

Damian stopped in front of Jack's door, surprised to find it open wide. He frowned, then cautiously peered inside.

As far as he could tell, Jack's room was deserted. Jack was more than likely out wandering the halls somewhere for who knew what reason.

Damian tensed. He hadn't counted on Jack not being around. He knew it was risky to attempt to prank Jack while he slept, but Damian felt he was particularly good at hiding in the darkness. If Jack woke up, he could handle it, blending in with the hundreds of art supplies filling the room. With Jack out though, that meant he could return any minute, catching Damian in the act.

Damian rolled his eyes. If Jack caught him… It wouldn't be that hard to come up with a believable excuse. Jack was gullible enough.

Damian found his way over to a stack of blank canvases. He cursed as he stumbled over several bolts of colorful fabric, knocking them over. He didn't bother fixing them. Jack's room was such a disaster he wouldn't even notice. Maybe it was better Jack was out after all.

Damian shook his head disdainfully as he picked up a construction paper cutout of a bunny. Of course Jack was already prepping for Easter. As far as Damian knew, nobody at HD Academy was planning anything to celebrate, but he should've suspected Jack would be on it.

Ultimately, Damian had not thought too far ahead regarding how exactly he was going to prank Jack. Knowing Jack had oodles of crap in his room, Damian had figured it wouldn't be too difficult to come up with something once he knew which materials he had to work with.

He could destroy Jack's unused canvases, but that was too obvious. Damian didn't mind dramatic pranks, but he preferred to reserve them for Zeo, knowing he'd get a much better reaction. Jack was too oblivious. Damian needed to hit him where he'd feel it, in the most flagrant way.

His eyes wandered over to an oversized container of crayons Jack had lying around. A devious idea quickly filled his mind.

Damian located Jack's makeup, which was kept on his bureau. Damian peeled the wrapper off a blue crayon. He repeatedly began mashing the crayon, crushing it down. Damian opened a tube of blue lipstick and yanked the makeup itself out of it, tossing it into a nearby trashcan. He broke up a second crayon, then began shaping the mess of broken blue bits.

Satisfied, he took the fake lipstick he'd sculpted and stuck it back in the now empty tube. Without looking closely, the crayon molding could easily pass for actual makeup. Jack would be in for a nice surprise tomorrow morning when he tried to apply the waxy substance.

Damian turned his attention next to a mannequin draped with a variety of fabrics. Damian grabbed some acrylics paints from a nearby table. While he wasn't an artist, to the best of his ability he painted on a face he thought Jack would find frightening. He made the face ghostly white, with large blood-red eyes and what looked like more blood dripping down its face and from its lips. For good measure, he painted some of the same red color on the fingers on the mannequin, making it look like it had been desperately clawing to get out, wearing its nails ragged.

Damian carried the mannequin over to the closet. He stuffed it inside among the mess of clothing.

He repositioned the arms of the mannequin. When Jack opened the closet, the mannequin would fall out, appearing to be reaching out to grab him. The disturbing face Damian had painted on would seal the deal.

Damian looked around the room, trying to figure out what he could do next. He was only just getting started.

"Damian?"

He froze, and turned around. Jack was standing right in the doorway.

Jack didn't seem to notice his teammate's discomfort. "What a lovely surprise! Damian, what are you doing here so late?"

Damian ignored the question, his eyes instead drawn to the dozen or so whoopee cushions Jack held in his right hand. "Jack, what are those for?"

"Oh these?" He waved them about nonchalantly as the pink rubber toys slapped against each other. "I'm just setting up for tomorrow, nothing to worry about."

"Right, then I'll leave you to it," Damian headed for the door.

Jack stepped aside so the blue-haired blader could pass. "See you in the morning!" He called cheerily to Damian's retreating back.

Damian shook his head as he returned to his room. That had gone much better than anticipated, although Damian wished he'd had more of a chance to properly enact his revenge. He wasn't restricted to just April Fool's Day in the end, he reminded himself. Those twenty minutes of altering Jack's room with a couple of special surprises were just the start. Damian would get back at Jack when he least expected it.

With that in mind, Damian yawned and crawled into his bed. First thing tomorrow morning he'd arrange a little prank for Zeo.

Damian yelped, rolling out of his bed onto the floor. He hopped up to see what had been the cause of the sudden, sharp pain that radiated all across his body.

Perfectly arranged in row after row were no fewer than two hundred tacks, all positioned with the gleaming silver point sticking up. Damian suddenly knew exactly what Jack had been doing outside so early in the morning.

He screamed Jack's name, running back down the hall to give the other teenager a piece of his mind, despite being secretly impressed that one, Jack had managed to pull something over on him, and two, he'd been able to do it so quickly and effectively in such a short amount of time.


	6. Easter in the Apartment

**Happy Easter! I know this is two days late, but I've really wanted to write this one for a while, and circumstances just wouldn't allow for me to get this oneshot done on time. I've tried to write this so that whether you celebrate the holiday or not, you can still enjoy the lovely antics of the one and only Team Star Breaker. I hope I succeeded :) Catch you guys for the next holiday! Enjoy!**

 **I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.**

* * *

Jack was dousing eggs in murky green water when Zeo entered the kitchen. The pink-haired blader was wearing a paint-splattered apron as he cheerfully hummed and placed the now green egg onto a rack that already hosted eggs in varying shades of pink, purple, and blue.

Jack beamed upon noticing Zeo's arrival. "Good morning, Zeo! What are you doing up so early?"

Zeo glanced up at the clock to confirm he wasn't crazy. "Jack, it's ten in the morning. It's not that early."

"Is it now?" Jack responded absentmindedly as he dumped yet another egg into a bowl of water with yellow food coloring. "I suppose time really does fly when you're having fun. I've been up since two."

Zeo's eyes widened. "Since two? Why-" He stopped himself. Jack was an artist. There was never rationality behind anything he did, he just did it. Asking was pointless.

Jack seemed oblivious to Zeo's shock. "It is Easter tomorrow. I'm merely putting together a few last minute decorations."

As if it were possible for anyone to forget the holiday, Zeo grimaced. Not with Jack around. A pastel blue artificial tree dominated one of the rooms with plastic eggs dangling from its branches that had lovingly been hung there by Jack. That was only the beginning.

Everywhere he went, Zeo saw bunnies, eggs, chicks, and other springtime imagery as Jack ushered in the holiday. The walls had been painted accordingly, and cut-outs were everywhere. Zeo honestly wasn't sure how much more Jack could do in terms of decorating. The overabundance of pastel was sickening. Zeo hoped Jack wouldn't go to any more extremes, otherwise he was certain Jack would be bringing in a live rabbit any day now. Zeo pitied any animal part of Jack's plans.

He hoped it wouldn't come to that. For now, the six-foot stuffed plush rabbit bearing down on them that had been shoved in an empty corner of the kitchen was enough.

Damian plodded into the room moments later. Zeo watched him warily.

"Is it true," Damian began as he reached for a box of cereal, "that some rodent comes in the middle of the night and leaves baskets full of candy?"

"It's a bunny, not a rodent," Jack chided. "And of course it's true! The Easter Bunny is as real as you or me!"

Damian muttered something under his breath that Zeo didn't catch. "Interesting."

Zeo didn't know where Damian was going with this, but he certainly didn't like it.

Jack was still humming as he finished up the yellow egg and used tongs to retrieve it from the bowl. "Any big plans for tomorrow, guys?"

Zeo shook his head. Damian replied with a flat, "No."

Jack clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! This works perfectly with what I had in mind?"

"Actually-" Zeo attempted to intercede, doing his best to come up with some false excuses in his head.

"Hush, Zeo, I assure you this should not take up too much of your time. I best begin getting preparations underway!" Jack sauntered out of the room, leaving behind the eggs and bowls of colorful water.

Zeo shrugged. "What do you think that was about?"

"Who cares?" Damian sneered. "Whatever he's got planned, there's no way I'm going along with it. Anything Jack ever sets up just ends in disaster. Besides, I've got my own things to figure out now."

Damian took the opportunity to depart, leaving Zeo alone in the room. As much as Zeo relished in the welcome peace and quiet as he ate his breakfast, he couldn't help but wonder what his two teammates were plotting now.

* * *

By Damian's calculations, he suspected his plans would be coming to fruition any time now. It was near midnight and the penthouse of HD Academy was completely silent in the darkness.

In the kitchen, Damian had placed a small wire cage with the latch set to close the moment any kind of movement inside it set it off. Leading up to the cage, Damian had created a trail of fresh carrots he'd cut up that went all the way to the elevator, the only way to access the top floors of the academy.

Truthfully, Damian wasn't certain on what bunnies preferred to eat, but carrots seemed like a safe bet. Now all he had to do was lie in wait. Any minute now, the Easter Bunny would be arriving, and Damian was all set to catch him. He wasn't sure how large the rodent- er, rabbit was either, but he had a large net at the ready if necessary.

Damian crouched under the kitchen table. He sincerely hoped no one would be out and about at this time of night. It'd be tough to explain without causing himself any embarrassment, and chances were Jack would more than likely join him under the table.

He slowed his breathing, taking careful, controlled breaths to further conceal his presence.

Damian wasn't sure what he was going to do once he caught the Easter Bunny, but he was taking this one step at the time. First, he would get the creature under his control, then as far as he was concerned Damian would have the power of Easter at his disposal. Damian didn't know what that entailed, but he liked the idea of having the power to lord over. Admittedly, capturing Santa Claus may have given him more clout, but that would have to wait until next Christmas. This was a warm-up to prep him for that eventuality.

After what felt like an eternity but realistically was roughly twenty minutes, Damian's ears perked up as he heard the soft pitter-patter of footsteps echoing through the hallway.

A figure appeared in the doorway. Two large, floppy ears stuck out of the top of its head. Damian held his breath.

The Easter Bunny was much, much bigger than Damian had anticipated. He was glad he had the net handy. The bunny's ears scraped across the top of the doorframe as it stepped into the room. In both its hands, it held four baskets brimming with goodies.

The baskets were set on the kitchen counter as the bunny suddenly noticed the carrots. It crouched down, drawing ever closer to the cage as it picked up the nearest vegetable. If Damian had been paying more attention on the bunny and not on his ultimate goal, he may have noticed the bunny had an oddly humanoid figure.

Damian pounced. He forgot he'd been under the table in all the excitement and bumped his head hard in the process. He let out an audible yelp.

The Easter Bunny jumped with a start. Before it could leave though, its hand was caught in the cage Damian had set up when it attempted to snatch up the final carrot inside.

Rubbing his head, Damian chose to take full advantage of the situation. He scrambled out from underneath the table, clutching the net tightly. With a battle cry, Damian jumped into the air and brought the net down over the head of his target.

As his vision cleared, Damian finally began to realize that something was not quite right.

Rather than a nice fur, the rabbit was covered in what seemed to be a pink cotton material. Damian should've known something was up when it didn't hop into the room.

The rabbit whirled its head around and Damian could have sworn it was looking at him reproachfully. Damian faltered.

Out of a horrifying nightmare, the bunny began to pull its head from its shoulders with its one free arm then threw it away, sending the net that had been on top of it out of Damian's hands and clattering to the ground.

Damian didn't know whether to sigh with relief or scream in frustration when Jack whipped around to face him. Damian flipped on the light switch, disbelieving. He blinked hard to make sure what he was seeing was real.

"How dare you," Jack glared, the pink bunny suit hardly making him any more ridiculous than usual. "Trying to capture the Easter Bunny, that's low, Damian. Even for someone like you."

"What are you doing now, Jack?"

"Obviously I'm trying to preserve the sanctity of this holiday, but clearly you're out to ruin it. I should've known this would happen, you have no vision, no sense of finesse at all," Jack ranted. Damian rolled his eyes. "Help me out of this accursed trap; I still want the carrot."

Moments later, Jack was freed and all was well as he happily munched on the carrot. Defeated, Damian wandered back to his room, glad for once no one had been around to witness his shame at Jack's hands.

He hadn't captured the real Easter Bunny this time around, but there was always next year.

* * *

Zeo was pleasantly surprised when he awoke the next morning to find an Easter basket awaiting him, filled with candy, equipment for bey maintenance, and other welcome surprises. He assumed it must have been Dr. Ziggurat's doing.

Dr. Ziggurat wasn't around for this particular holiday, allegedly off on a business trip to meet with some of the sponsors for both his research and the American representative team. He seemed to be meeting with a lot of different people these days. Zeo supposed that made sense, considering Team Star Breaker had their first match next week. Zeo couldn't deny he was a little bit nervous, especially battling on such a major stage like this, but he was confident they would achieve victory. Damian and Jack may have been psychotic, but both were stronger bladers. Sharing a team with them wasn't the worst thing in the world, though he would never admit that out loud.

At the moment, Damian wasn't even around. He was probably sleeping in, taking a few extra moments of peace for himself before that inevitable whirlwind of chaos that was Jack appeared to steal them away.

As if on cue, Jack popped into the room, bright and cheerful as ever.

"Good morning, Zeo," he said happily. "How would you like to take part in an Easter egg hunt today?"

Zeo nearly dropped his spoon back into his bowl of cereal. "Oh, Jack, that sounds… really interesting, but I really need to work on my launches today, you know, with the world championships coming up and all-"

Jack waved him off, interrupting. "There will be plenty of time to practice later. Today is a day of celebration."

Zeo gulped. Jack spoke in such a serious tone, one he'd rarely ever used before. Zeo wasn't about to push his luck, particularly now when he didn't have Dr. Ziggurat to reign the crazed artist in. "I-I see. What did you have in mind?"

Jack grinned, but it came off rather sinister. "Excellent! I knew you'd see it my way. This will be quite fun I assure you! Over the past week I have hidden twenty special Easter eggs inside this apartment! Your task, along with Damian of course once I wake him up, is to find all of them. Speaking of, I should go rouse him." Jack exited the kitchen with a flourish.

Zeo wolfed down the rest of his food. Things were undoubtedly about to spiral out of control, although it wasn't the worst-case scenario. An Easter egg hunt, even one set up by Jack, _could_ be fun. Besides, Zeo was genuinely impressed that Jack had been able to hide so many eggs thus far without anyone finding them.

His smile turned downward. If no one had noticed them yet, Jack probably had hidden them very well. It was going to take a while to complete this task, and Zeo had a feeling they wouldn't be allowed to stop until they found every last egg.

A disgruntled Damian entered the room. "Would you mind telling me what all this is about?" he complained.

Jack happily obliged. Zeo stared out the window. At least it was raining. It wasn't like he could do much else.

"Absolutely not," Damian seethed. "After what happened last night, you're lucky I didn't launch a bey into your throat when you burst into my room." Zeo wondered what Damian could be referencing, but thought it best not to ask.

"Oh, you'll take part in this hunt," Jack said, almost menacingly. He brightened once more. "Time starts now! I'll be in my room creating; by the way, there aren't any eggs there, so don't waste your time looking. My room will only open once you've found all twenty eggs."

Zeo's stomach clenched as he was left alone with Damain. More and more the two of them were being forced to spend time together like this. Some days it went better than others. Zeo hoped this would be one of them, but judging by Damian's already cranky mood he wasn't counting on it.

"C'mon, Zeo," Damian spat. "Let's get out of here."

Zeo got up from the table, placing his dishes in the sink. Jack would never know they left the apartment. By the time he found out, Dr. Ziggurat would be back and seize control of the situation. As soon as they got in the elevator, Zeo and Damian could go their separate ways. Zeo would use the opportunity to practice as he'd mentioned to Jack.

The hallway was oddly quiet, though Zeo couldn't place why. There were at most four of them living in it and the few visitors that came typically spent time tucked away in Ziggurat's quarters. Maybe it was the weird tension that was emanating from Damian for some reason. He seemed more aggravated than usual.

They came up upon the elevator and Damian punched in the passcode. Nothing happened.

Damian tried a second time. He noticed a pale green piece of paper taped to the elevator and ripped it off. He swore loudly after reading it and flung it to the ground. Zeo looked at him questioningly.

"Jack's put the elevator in lockdown mode so it can't be used until he resets it. And he won't do that until we finish this stupid egg hunt. That maniac's got us trapped here."

Zeo felt his stomach drop. "Oh," was all he could manage to say. Normally, he didn't mind being stuck in the academy as it kept him busy, but he'd never been held there against his will before, especially with an irate Damian. Naturally, he'd still been in some pretty uncomfortable situations in the apartment before, but he had never been rendered completely unable to escape if it came to that.

Damian groaned. "Let's just start looking for those damn eggs. The quicker we get this over with, the sooner it'll all be over." Damian marched back toward the kitchen.

Zeo followed suit. His teammate had gotten one thing wrong though: with Jack, even after they finished the infernal egg hunt, it was never over.

While Damian peeked inside the oven, Zeo checked the cabinets. He cried with delight when he found a light blue plastic egg hiding behind the plates. Curiously, he popped it open.

"Look! There's candy inside!"

"Don't eat it," Damian instructed, which Zeo felt was one of the nicest pieces of advice he'd ever given him. "This is Jack we're talking about."

Zeo looked at the chocolate bar forlornly. "I guess you're right."

"We should split up. There's still nineteen to go." Damian whirled around and stalked out of the room, his cape flapping behind him.

Zeo spent the next half hour searching all over the apartment. He checked every single egg Jack had hung from the blue tree, but all were empty, leaving Zeo to assume none of them were part of the hunt.

Horrifyingly, he found two stashed in his room, one a sparkly pink color and the other chromatic silver. Either Jack had snuck in while Zeo was out or he'd managed to hide them whilst Zeo slept. Both options were equally concerning; Jack blatantly disregarded anyone's right to privacy.

He found two more stuck in the bathroom, one tightly concealed behind the toilet. The second one with stuffed into a toilet paper tube. A quick sweep of the kitchen unearthed another two eggs.

So far, that put his count up to seven. Zeo wondered how Damian was doing. Zeo was fast running out of places to check, and by locking them upstairs, Jack had made it clear all of the eggs must be somewhere in the closet.

Checking the shoe closet, which was mostly empty barring several brightly colored pairs of footwear that could only belong to Jack, Zeo discovered one more egg in a tall fire-red leather boot.

Following his gut, Zeo next searched the coats hanging up. Another egg was in his rain jacket.

Zeo was feeling much more confident now. Jack clearly had a method to his madness. Most of the rooms housed at least two eggs. Damian had likely come to this same conclusion. As long as one egg was found per room, there was bound to be another.

Twenty minutes later, Zeo met up with Damian in the dining room by pure coincidence. They pooled their findings together on the table.

Damian counted them, squinting. "We've got eighteen. Two more to go."

"But where could they be?" Zeo asked, confused and more than a little anxious as the hunt dragged on. He was starting to feel claustrophobic locked up in the penthouse. Working closely with Damian like this for an extended period of time was starting to get to him as it wore on his nerves. "We've checked just about everywhere. Jack said we won't find any in his room. What does that leave?"

Damian opened his mouth, then closed it. He grimaced. "Did you check Ziggurat's room?"

Zeo's eyes widened. "No. No way. Jack did not go there."

Damian's frown looked permanent. "I can guarantee he did. I found three eggs in my room alone. Do you really believe he'd think twice about going into Ziggurat's personal sanctuary?" The last few words dripped with sarcasm as Damian made air quotes.

Zeo swallowed. "I do not want to go snooping around the doctor's room."

Damian rolled his eyes. "Do you want to get out of here? Yeah? Then we don't have a choice. Let's go."

Zeo reluctantly followed Damian down the hall. He'd never been to Dr. Ziggurat's room before. It felt like a massive invasion of privacy, so forbidden, particularly since the doctor was out and had no idea what his prize team was up to.

The door was, thankfully, unlocked. Dr. Ziggurat's room was fairly organized, at least enough so that they could properly look around. Zeo made a conscious effort to move everything back into its original place in hopes that the doctor wouldn't be alerted they had been lurking around while he was gone.

Zeo noticed a set of notes on the desk, including one that mentioned Toby's name. He intended to read it, but was quickly distracted by the task at hand when Damian called his name. The first egg had been found when Damian had rooted through Ziggurat's laundry hamper. He looked utterly disgusted. Moments later, the second egg was found underneath the mattress.

As they left the room, the paper with Toby's name on it was almost immediately forgotten. Zeo and Damian were too busy celebrating the end of their torment as the Easter egg hunt came to a close. Cradling all the eggs in their arms, they rushed over to Jack's room.

Jack's face glowed as he cheerfully counted out the eggs. "Oh, this is wonderful, truly spectacular! And just in time, too- I've finished my latest creation!"

Jack dragged them both in by the arms. On a large canvas, he'd painted an enormous Easter egg in the center, with cartoon versions of Damian and Zeo with exaggerated features running from what looked like an angry horde of eggs at the very bottom.

"Can we go?" Damian asked, clearly done with the day's excitement.

Jack pouted. "Oh, fine. I'll go reset the elevator. I hope you two come to appreciate my generosity someday. I made you such glorious baskets for this morning. Not only did I give you candy and send you out on a life-affirming egg hunt, I've immortalized you forever in my artwork as well! You should be honored!" He bustled off.

Damian walked out of the room, muttering to himself. Zeo shook his head. This was an Easter he wouldn't be forgetting any time soon.


End file.
